How Do You Clean an 11-Ton Elephant? One Brushstroke at a Time

The National Museum of Natural History recently spruced up its iconic African elephant mount, which has greeted visitors since 1959

Each year, more than four million people visit the National Museum of Natural History. And the first thing that greets many visitors is the museum’s iconic African bush elephant.

Standing 13-feet tall and weighing 11 tons, the elephant — who is affectionately known by his nickname, Henry — is hard to miss. Originally from Angola, Henry is the largest elephant mount in the world and has been the centerpiece of the museum’s rotunda since 1959.

Over the decades, Henry has experienced a fair share of wear and tear. The elephant received an extensive makeover in 2015. A team of specialists meticulously cleaned Henry’s hide and patched up any cracks and abrasions with hand-colored beeswax. The elephant’s stand was also redesigned to include an information desk and new information panels on elephant ecology.

The restoration breathed new life into the pachyderm that serves as the museum’s unofficial emblem. In early 2025, Henry was ready for another deep clean. So the museum employed the trusted hand of sculptor and taxidermist Paul Rhymer.

Rhymer worked for the Smithsonian Institution for 25 years, creating models, mounts and sculptures for exhibits across the National Mall. He spent the last ten years of his Smithsonian tenure at the National Museum of Natural History, where he created a variety of taxidermy mounts, including several featured in the “Kenneth E. Behring Family Hall of Mammals.”

While Rhymer officially retired from the Smithsonian in 2010 to pursue his sculpting full time, he still works with the museum on various projects that arise. These odd tasks include everything from restoring taxidermy to constructing new mounts and models for exhibits. “It’s random as the need arises,” Rhymer said. “Pretty much a lot like what I did as an employee."

In 2015, Rhymer led the elephantine effort to restore Henry. This experience gave him a familiarity with the museum’s largest mount.

Overall, Henry has kept in good shape since his last restoration. As a result, Rhymer did not anticipate any major repairs. He assembled a team that included his wife, Carolyn Thome, who worked as a model maker at the Smithsonian for 30 years, taxidermists Tim Young and Dalton Jeffers and studio assistants Virginia Maier and Mike Potter, whose father served as the museum’s marine mammal collection manager for over 40 years. They were also joined by members of the museum’s exhibit team, who procured ladders and lifts to help the team reach the elephant’s harder to reach areas behind its ears and on its back.

In January, the team spent two nights carefully cleaning Henry. First they used a blower to gently remove dust off the elephant’s back. Several team members were waiting on the other side with vacuum cleaners to catch the descending dust.

Then they got down to the nitty gritty. This included carefully cleaning Henry’s wrinkled skin, which is prone to holding dust. "The major concern was making sure that we got the dust off the mount and not pushed further into the skin," Rhymer said. The team utilized a variety of soft brushes to clean every nook and cranny.

Even though Rhymer and his crew were familiar with Henry, cleaning a mount this size still presented plenty of challenges. Luckily, the team was equipped to pivot if one cleaning strategy was taking too long or if the elephant’s skin proved cumbersome. “We hit some snags, but we had materials and tools for multiple scenarios so [we] figured most of that out quickly,” Rhymer said.

The team's adaptability and tireless work yielded a picture-perfect pachyderm. As the elephant nears its 70th year on display, both his hide and the underlying mount remain in “excellent condition,” according to Rhymer.

Despite the wrinkles, Henry hardly shows his age.

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Jack Tamisiea | | Read More

Jack Tamisiea is a Science Communications Specialist at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. In addition to covering all things natural history for the museum's blog, Smithsonian Voices, he tracks media coverage and coordinates filming activities for the museum's Office of Communications and Public Affairs. Jack recently completed his masters in science writing at Johns Hopkins University and his writing has appeared in the New York Times, Scientific American, National Geographic and other science-focused publications. In his free time, he loves exploring the outdoors with a sketchbook and camera. You can read more of Jack's work at https://jacktamisiea.com.